The European Union and the United States have reached a deal over trans-Atlantic data sharing that would potentially extinguish the risk of costly litigation by consumers worried about their privacy.

Andrus Ansip, the European Commissioner responsible for the digital single market, said in a tweet Tuesday that a deal on concluding negotiations has been forged and that there will be a "new secure framework for data.''

Details are sketchy but could be forthcoming in an upcoming news conference.

The two sides have been trying to forge an agreement since October when Europe's top court struck down the previous pact — known as Safe Harbor — amid concerns over the rights of Europeans' data stored by companies in the U.S. and their potential exposure to surveillance from U.S. intelligence agencies.